Survey flags death, malnutrition in drought-hit Bundelkhand

Most homes not getting enough to eat; resorting to sending children for work, distress sale of any cattle; call for comprehensive relief without delay

A little more than a third of the 100-odd drought-hit villages in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh have recorded at least one death due to hunger or malnutrition in the past eight months.

And, about two-thirds of households often did not get two square meals in the period, shows a survey by psephologist Yogendra Yadav’s ‘Swaraj Abhiyan’, with others. It was conducted in all the 27 tehsils across the seven districts of the region in UP, from October 27 to November 9, through both face-to-face interviews and group discussion.

The seven districts are Jalaun, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Banda, Chitrakoot, Lalitpur and Mahoba. The region is one of the worst hit from drought this year; the state on the whole got rainfall 45 per cent less than normal. Aggravated by wide damage to the previous rabi crop by hailstorms and unseasonal rain.

SORRY STATE OF AFFAIRS
Situation in past eight months (since March 2015)

• 38% Villages reporting at least one hunger death
   
• 86% Households cutting down on pulses consumption
   
• 84% Households cutting down on milk consumption
   
• 67% Households often not getting two square meals a day
   
• 38% Households reporting inadequate availability of drinking water
   
• 19% Poor households who went hungry at least once in past 30 days
   
• 24% Households who had to send their children for child labour
   
• 9.5 days Average number of days under MNREGS since March

Source:  Bundelkhand Drought Impact Assessment Survey 2015 of Swaran

Half the 600-odd districts in the country got less than the normal rain this year.

The survey showed 14 per cent of general category households and 19 per cent of the ‘poorest of the poor’ households were forced to go hungry at least once in the past 30 days.

“Our survey clearly shows that such a big drought, on such a big scale, should be immediately declared a national tragedy. It should be handled on a war footing because it is moving towards famine,” said Yadav.

The survey also showed 86 per cent of households had to cut on their daily consumption of pulses in the past eight months, since Holi. And, 84 per cent had reduced their milk consumption in the period. The sharp increase in the price of pulses could be one cause.

Also, about a fourth of households had to send their children for child labour in this period; 40 per cent resorted to distress-sale of their cattle. Quarrels over water rose 66 per cent in these months; 31 per cent of all handpumps in the area are not functional. Half the women in the area spend more than an hour on collecting water daily; 38 per cent of the households surveyed said the drinking water they got wasn't enough.

And, 97 per cent of the villagers reported a rise in their debt, with 87 per cent unable to repay.

Yadav said that though the Centre had claimed to have raised the the number of mandays of labour under MGNREGS, the rural job guarantee, to 150 days in drought-affected districts, their survey showed the average number was less than 10 days since March.

The authors called for immediate measures like fodder sheds, repair of tubewells and handpumps, power for irrigation and lumpsum compensation for farmers committing suicide.

The central government on Wednesday said it had sent a team of senior officials to assess the situation in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. And, to have got memorandums from the governments of UP and Odisha. UP has declared drought in 50 districts of the state and asked for Rs 2,000-crore of relief measures.

The Centre said it had urged the governments of Telangana, Jharkhand and Bihar to speedily send their requests for relief. So far, seven states have declared drought; rainfall has been poor in 18 states.